OT: Ready to laugh (maybe?)

[purplefaithful]

C'mon, we could all use a little funny right now...

If you get Prime, its on starting 10/23...

[Guest]

The reviews of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm are mostly positive. Here's a round-up of what movie critics are saying.
At Variety, Peter Debruge writes "it’s a relief that the 'Subsequent Moviefilm' is no dashed-off affair, but a parody on par with the original. Granted, audiences have a better idea of what to expect now, and the shaky camerawork and extreme attempts to make even scripted bits look spontaneous distract more than they add in the year 2020. But Borat has lost none of his bite, treading that same fine line between sophomoric humor and pointed political satire."
Entertainment Weekly gave Borat 2 an A-, and Lean Greenblatt's review calls it "not the Borat we deserve, maybe, but the one we need right now" before noting the film's "entire axis spins on the kind of extreme discomfort comedy you almost need a pillow to chew on and a pile of Xanax to get through, that's also the particular genius of Baron Cohen, an artist who instinctively knows how to hold up a mirror — and that a cracked one can show us, maybe better than anything, exactly what we need to see."
The BBC's Nicholas Barber writes "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is nowhere near as hilarious as its predecessor. The pranks tend to be longer and baggier, more audacious than funny, and there is nothing to match the gross-out brilliance of the naked wrestling, or the magnificent silliness of keeping a bear in the back of an ice cream van. But be patient: the last half hour of Subsequent Moviefilm has enough fine material to make it all worthwhile."
Others have weighed in as well. Adam McKay (director of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy) tweeted "I laughed so hard I made embarrassing sounds when I saw #Borat2. And on top of that it gets to the twisted insane clown car heart of America in a way that nothing else has."
Actor/writer/director Seth Rogen's also seen Borat 2, tweeting "I’ve seen #Borat2 around six times over the last few months, and I can’t wait to watch it a seventh. It’s crazy and wonderful and couldn’t be more timely. It also has a few of the funniest scenes I’ve ever seen in a movie. I’m excited for you to see it."

[Guest]

I absolutely cannot wait for this. He's a comedy genius.

[Guest]

Just watched it....Wow....  SPOILER ALERT.....

Funny, and truly sad at the same time. Makes quite a statement about “America” (sadly)
And...The Rudy Giuliani scene....truly without words.  

Guiliani later made a statement that he “knew he was being set up”.....BS...
If thats the case why the drinks, why follow her into the bedroom, why ask her number and address...

"OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM BORAT SAGDIYEV."
In it, Cohen dressed as Borat said: "I here to defend America's Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani. What was an innocent sexy-time encounter between a consenting man and my 15-year-old daughter has been turned into something disgusting by fake news media."
Borat continued: "I warn you. Anyone else try this and Rudolph will not hesitate to reach into his legal briefs and whip out his subpoenas”

[Guest]

Hopefully this wont end up in the bad forum...We're planning to catch it this weekend sometime. 

[Guest]

The moon blood dance scene was the hardest I've laughed in a long time. It exceeded expectations.

As for the Giuliani, it honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be. Only when you know the context of the the girl's character do you learn she's 15. To Giuliani, it's just a (presumably legal) hot chick hitting on him. Not that it's right, but not surprising he's gonna go into a separate room with her and initiate something. The real issue is how easily it'd be to get this old booze-bag to put himself into a compromising position and spill info to outside parties. 

[Guest]

I like Borat. I wanted to really like this movie. And I did laugh to tears on occasion. But there were also scenes that I had trouble getting through...the father daughter dance and the conservative women speech. 

Overall, it kinda bugged me. Since we're still in the main forum, I'll put this as tactfully as I can: Sympathetic characters were clearly let in on the joke, while less sympathetic characters were not. A little unfair and misleading. 

And I still haven't watched all of the final part--the Guliani thing. Had to stop it. I'll try again tonight. Don't get me wrong, I think Guliani is the 2nd biggest buffoon in America right now but take him down with ideas, the law...not this shit. Maybe I'll change my mind when I finish it, but I fear Borat might make some feel sorry for the schmuck. 

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:
I like Borat. I wanted to really like this movie. And I did laugh to tears on occasion. But there were also scenes that I had trouble getting through...the father daughter dance and the conservative women speech. 

Overall, it kinda bugged me. Since we're still in the main forum, I'll put this as tactfully as I can: Sympathetic characters were clearly let in on the joke, while less sympathetic characters were not. A little unfair and misleading. 

And I still haven't watched all of the final part--the Guliani thing. Had to stop it. I'll try again tonight. Don't get me wrong, I think Guliani is the 2nd biggest buffoon in America right now but take him down with ideas, the law...not this shit. Maybe I'll change my mind when I finish it, but I fear Borat might make some feel sorry for the schmuck. 

Damn. I was texting with my dad earlier and I did tell him the moon blood dance (father/daughter) was my favorite scene, but would admittedly be his least favorite for how crude it was. 

Curious though, what did you mean by sympathetic characters being let in on the joke. I know there are always actors in these, but who did you think?

[Guest]

@KingBash said:

@MaroonBells said:
I like Borat. I wanted to really like this movie. And I did laugh to tears on occasion. But there were also scenes that I had trouble getting through...the father daughter dance and the conservative women speech. 

Overall, it kinda bugged me. Since we're still in the main forum, I'll put this as tactfully as I can: Sympathetic characters were clearly let in on the joke, while less sympathetic characters were not. A little unfair and misleading. 

And I still haven't watched all of the final part--the Guliani thing. Had to stop it. I'll try again tonight. Don't get me wrong, I think Guliani is the 2nd biggest buffoon in America right now but take him down with ideas, the law...not this shit. Maybe I'll change my mind when I finish it, but I fear Borat might make some feel sorry for the schmuck. 

Damn. I was texting with my dad earlier and I did tell him the moon blood dance (father/daughter) was my favorite scene, but would admittedly be his least favorite for how crude it was. 

Curious though, what did you mean by sympathetic characters being let in on the joke. I know there are always actors in these, but who did you think?

Definitely the Jewish ladies in the temple...and maybe even the black woman. I just have to wonder....where's the camera in all these scenes? And why does nobody acknowledge it? In the car with the black woman there are like three different angles. How do you shoot that without her knowing she's on camera? Unless I missed the explanation for that, which is VERY possible. I miss a lot. 

When it comes to political movies like this (michael moore docs, too), I try to see them through the lens of the opposition. And this movie is going to make someone like Sean Hannity's head explode. 

It's like Bowling for Columbine. The central point in the movie (about America being gun crazy) is a strong one. But he weakens it by going to Lockheed Martin to make this flimsy connection between the defense industry and violence in school. Stupid. Unnecessary. Then he makes EVEN ME feel sorry for Charlton Heston and that's pretty hard to do. *L*

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:

@KingBash said:

@MaroonBells said:
I like Borat. I wanted to really like this movie. And I did laugh to tears on occasion. But there were also scenes that I had trouble getting through...the father daughter dance and the conservative women speech. 

Overall, it kinda bugged me. Since we're still in the main forum, I'll put this as tactfully as I can: Sympathetic characters were clearly let in on the joke, while less sympathetic characters were not. A little unfair and misleading. 

And I still haven't watched all of the final part--the Guliani thing. Had to stop it. I'll try again tonight. Don't get me wrong, I think Guliani is the 2nd biggest buffoon in America right now but take him down with ideas, the law...not this shit. Maybe I'll change my mind when I finish it, but I fear Borat might make some feel sorry for the schmuck. 

Damn. I was texting with my dad earlier and I did tell him the moon blood dance (father/daughter) was my favorite scene, but would admittedly be his least favorite for how crude it was. 

Curious though, what did you mean by sympathetic characters being let in on the joke. I know there are always actors in these, but who did you think?

Definitely the Jewish ladies in the temple...and maybe even the black woman. I just have to wonder....where's the camera in all these scenes? And why does nobody acknowledge it? In the car with the black woman there are like three different angles. How do you shoot that without her knowing she's on camera? Unless I missed the explanation for that, which is VERY possible. I miss a lot. 

When it comes to political movies like this (michael moore docs, too), I try to see them through the lens of the opposition. And this movie is going to make someone like Sean Hannity's head explode. 

It's like Bowling for Columbine. The central point in the movie (about America being gun crazy) is a strong one. But he weakens it by going to Lockheed Martin to make this flimsy connection between the defense industry and violence in school. Stupid. Unnecessary. Then he makes EVEN ME feel sorry for Charlton Heston and that's pretty hard to do. *L*

Good point. The Jewish women were absolutely in on it. I wasn't thinking when I responded, forgot about them. The black woman was maybe in on it.

You're 100% right, but it's obvious because of their interactions, not because of the camera placement. Every one of those people knows a camera is present, otherwise they wouldn't be able to show the footage (unless they'd signed a waiver either before or after the scene). There are people in the Seattle protest that are blurred out because the filmmakers never got their okay. Legal is very strict on this. We've had people in the back back background of stuff where I've argued their faces couldn't be distinguished and legal always pushes back and says to either blur it or throw it on the floor.

The producers in almost all of these scenes likely approach the subjects prior to SBC entering and explain they're shooting a documentary about XYZ and get sign off. The Jewish women in particular - I'd like to hear their elevator pitch to them about why to not be overtly offended.